Sooner Al
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As posted in the online version of the Oklahoman, 6 June 2007..
http://newsok.com/article/3063008
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By Jim Stafford
Business Writer
Sinclair Broadcasting and Cox Communications patched up their differences and announced a new cable retransmission agreement Tuesday that will enable digital cable viewers in Oklahoma City to watch next year’s Super Bowl in high definition.
Sinclair owns KOKH Fox 25 and KOCB CW 34 in Oklahoma City.
The long and contentious negotiations had kept the high definition broadcasts of both stations off the Cox digital cable lineup, meaning that Major League baseball, NFL football and other high profile sports and entertainment programming were not available in HD to local cable viewers.
“I’m pleased that we’ve accomplished this, and both parties should benefit from it,” said John Rossi, general manager of the Sinclair broadcasting properties in Oklahoma City. “More importantly, the viewers are going to benefit from this.”
No details or financial terms of the deal were released.
New channels added
The agreement means that Cox will add the HD broadcasts of KOCB and KOKH on channels 711 and 712, respectively, Cox officials said in a news release.
Currently, the analog broadcast of KOCB is available on cable Channel 11, while KOKH programming is seen on Channel 12.
“Cox is pleased to add Fox and CW in HD to our lineup,” said Dave Bialis, general manager of Cox Oklahoma.
“We’re committed to offering our customers the quality, high-definition channels they want with the convenience they have come to expect from Cox.”
To access high-definition content, customers must have a high-definition television and an HD-enabled receiver or CableCARD, available for lease from Cox or an HD antenna available at local retailers.
Cox Communications is headquartered in Atlanta, while Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is in Baltimore.
The agreement provides for the carriage by cable systems owned by Cox of nine television station signals in six markets owned by Sinclair, servicing about 1.25 million subscribers.
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soonertoad
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I just called Cox and confirmed this story. They said both channels should be up this weekend. They are negotiating a similar deal with Hearst-Argyle.
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Sooner Al
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Getting ABC on Cox HD again would be good. I can get the KOCO HD feed using an OTA antenna, but it would be nice not to have to switch inputs. Gotta save those clicks on the remote since you only get so many…:-)
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Sooner Al
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Well, blow me down matey…
Both CW and Fox are up on Cox HD 711 and 712 respectively here in Norman. I just turned on my TV and started going through the guide and there they were…
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jv
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Wow….I just saw a flock of pigs flying over my house as I tuned to 712.
Makes KOCO the only channel I need OTA using my Windows Vista Media Center/XBOX360 solution. Wonder if H/A will actually cave in knowing that cable boxes with OTA are in the pipeline.
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